Cañon City Tigers girls basketball getting noticed

Tigers junior Emily Lambrecht and the rest of the Cañon City girls are garnering attention from the state's coaches. (Brandon Hopper/Daily Record)

Everything seems to be working for the Cañon City Tigers girls basketball team, and the state is starting to take notice.

The Tigers received zero votes in the preseason Denver Post coaches poll. On Dec. 10 they got two, good enough for 18th.

Now the Tigers are on a six-game winning streak in which they're beating their opponents by an average of 36 points, and the votes are starting to come to Cañon City. In the latest poll released this week, the Tigers (7-2) received 14 points — a first-place vote is worth 10 points, a second-place worth 9, and so on. The 14 points are just three behind Silver Creek (3-2).

The Tigers' two losses were early in the year to Palmer Ridge (ranked ninth) and Class 5A Loveland (17th).

Against Palmer Ridge, the Tigers were up double digits late in the game before they had some calls not go their way, Tigers coach Dan Heath said. The six-game winning streak started after the loss to Loveland in the Pueblo County Invite. The Tigers trailed by 19 points in that game before battling back but never got over the hump.

“Our practices have been a lot better, we've gone a lot harder in practices and our communication has been a lot better,” said senior Nicole Decker after the team's 86-24 win against Vista Ridge on Saturday.

Still, none of their hard work matters if the Tigers can't keep rolling into the Christmas break. Cañon City will host Coronado at 7 p.m. today before traveling to Harrison for a 7 p.m. game Thursday.

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Neither team seems to pose much of a threat for the Tigers, led by Nicole Archambeau's 12.7 points per game and Lindsey Schwab's 12.2. The Cougars will come into tonight's game with a 1-5 record.

The Panthers will be 2-4 when the teams meet Thursday. The Panthers played in the Hornets' tournament as did the Tigers. Cañon City beat Widefield that tourney 47-25, and Widefield beat Harrison 58-31.